Walking through the Tumor: A Small Step for Immune Cells, a Giant Leap for Cancer Treatment

We are proud to announce that Mathilde Bernard, a PhD student in the Leukomotion lab (Pablo Vargas) at INEM, has received the prestigious 1st Prix Kerner from the Fondation ARC. Mathilde’s research explores how immune cells overcome barriers in the tumor microenvironment, particularly how they deform their nuclei to navigate obstacles. Crucially, she discovered that for immune cells to move efficiently, they must repair DNA damage caused by nuclear deformations. By identifying molecules that could help enhance this process, her work has the potential to significantly improve immunotherapies for cancer treatment.

This award highlights Mathilde's contribution to advancing our understanding of immune cell behavior in combating tumors.

Well done Mathilde !

Illustration Crédits : Mathilde Bernard (Vargas Lab) in collab. with DrawInScience / 1er Prix Kerner – Fondation ARC pour la recherche sur le cancer